Visit winter markets at Bethel Park Community Center

A change in careers can be sweet.

“I moved here after college to take a full-time job doing tax accounting,” Bethel Park resident Becca Battista said. “And then during the pandemic, I kind of had a change of heart and needed something a little bit more creative, rather than doing spreadsheets all day.”

The result is Becca Bakes Cookies, which helps put a comparatively exponential number of smiles on people’s faces.”

“No one is happy to see their tax accountant,” Battista said. “Even if you’re getting a refund, you’re not getting enough of a refund. Right? But everyone’s happy to see their cookie lady.”

She was among the vendors at the first of a series of indoor winter markets at the Bethel Park Community Center, although the weather on Oct. 24 was more reminiscent of a mild summer day.

The concept for the winter market stems from the success of the Bethel Park Farmers’ Market, which wrapped up at the end of September.

“After last year’s market, I got a lot of questions about extending the market and having it run longer,” Lindsey Sibert, programs coordinator for Bethel Park Recreation, said. “We’ll do it once a month throughout the winter. We’ll see how that goes, and then we’ll evaluate from there where we need to take it.”

Further winter markets are scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 28, Dec. 19, Jan. 23 and Feb. 27 at the community center, 5151 Park Ave.

“We were lucky enough to get a nice chunk of our vendors that wanted to come in,” Sibert said. “So far, it seems to be really well-received.”

Becca Bakes Cookies, which Battista started as a full-time business in 2021, drew plenty of winter market visitors to peruse her selection of decorated cookies and other treats.

“My parents used to do wedding cakes when I was younger,” she said about her pedigree. “I’ve been piping butter-cream roses since I was 8.”

Other vendors filled the community center’s multi-purpose room selling plenty of familiar products, from food to clothing to beverages for folks 21 and older.

Seventeen-year-old Jennifer Novak offered tastes of the artisan goat cheese she sells for Cherish Creamery, a Jefferson County farm with a strong presence in the Pittsburgh area.

“I did want to save up for college, definitely,” Novak, who attends Serra Catholic High School, said about her sales pursuits. “But I’ve always been an entrepreneur. At age 7, I had a sign in my yard for a coin-counting business. And then the next day it blew away, and I was sad.”

She and her mother, Karen, were regulars at markets throughout the summer, and attending one indoors represented a change of pace.

“It’s nice, because we usually have to bring the tent and get that set up,” Jennifer said. “So I kept thinking we forgot something in the car today, because we had next to nothing. All we had was our cheese.”

Through Nov. 21, No Cook Tuesdays are scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. in the parking lot behind the community center, featuring three food trucks each week.